Buqibu

I have yet to get a clear view of the Cassini Division, though one night I was able (for a slight, fleeting moment) to distinguish a gap in the rings. This was with my 4 inch achro, looking over close buildings...not properly acclimated....now that I think about it, might've been just my imagination😅😅

Celestron AstroMaster 102AZ, Celestron Zoom eyepiece at about 20mm. Using the sketchbook app on my phone. Bortle 6 skies, Moon is out. Hope you like it🙂, I'm really enjoying sketching lately, especially digitally. 

Its always great to show others views through a telescope. I find The Moon and planets get the best reaction, followed by double stars and open clusters. I don't bother showing people faint fuzzies if they aren't really into astro, as I know it wont impress them a ton. Though telling them what they are looking at is quite fun. Great report!

9 hours ago, John said:

Part 2 of this session comprised the 3 gas giant planets, Saturn, Jupiter and Neptune.

Saturn was subject to variable seeing conditions. During the steady periods the detail was nice but not outstanding I feel. The advantage that the 12 inch dobsonian had over my smaller aperture refractors tonight was that the "C" ring was showing clearly in the gap between the ansae of the "B" ring and the planetary limb. The "C" ring could be seen as a sharp edged change in contrast about halfway across that gap, on both sides of the planet. Like this (but smaller even at 338x of course):

The extra light grasp of the 12 inch also showed a 6th moon, Enceladus, along with Dione, Tethys, Rhea, Iapetus and Titan. Enceladus was quite close to the outer edge of the "A" ring which made it tricky to tease out of the glare from the ring system and the planetary disk. What I was hoping for 

Moving on to Jupiter, the giant planet showed best at 199x. The Great Red Spot was not on show but the 6/7 belts that crossed the disk showed lovely tones of brown, tan, rust, grey and cream. Rather lumpy edges to the north and south equatorial belts but no obvious white ovals and I could not see any barges on this occasion. The 4 Galilean moons were strung out in a 3 + 1 formation either side of the planet with Europa on it's own tonight.

Finally I managed to find Neptune which was a little tricky with the moons glow starting to invade that part of the sky. Once in the eyepiece I upped the magnification to 338x again and the pale blue planetary disk showed nicely. I do feel that the colour of Neptune and Uranus seems more saturated if the planets are observed with the moon relatively nearby

I did some careful observation of the planet using what I call my "1000 yard stare" method where I'm trying to de-focus my eye and look beyond / past Neptune if that's possible. It is rather like the technique used to view those "Magic Eye" 3D pictures. This does work, for me at least, in picking out faint point sources of light and sure enough one such pinpoint did pop in and out of view a little to the S and W of Neptunes tiny disk. A check on Stellarium confirmed that this was Neptune's largest and brightest moon Triton and I always get a thrill from seeing it 

So observing these 3 planets with the 12 inch scope delivered a few "extras" as I'd hoped it would.

Together with the planetary nebulae hunting session earlier, a very enjoyable night of observational astronomy

Here is the Stellarium view of Neptune and Triton tonight. Triton is a LOT fainter than shown in this (newtonian view) simulation though:

 

Saturn looked very nice yesterday, although its steadily dimming as it leaves opposition period, still a great sight. I thought I caught a glimpse of the Cassini Division yesterday for the first time in my 4 inch achro. Though it might've just been my imagination, haven't had a clear view of it yet. Saturn had a nice pale cream band that I could make out, looked a bit like a scoop of ice cream😁

Great report! My session today was a mix of clouds, wonky seeing, bright moon. Still quite fun😁

1 hour ago, tomato said:

I guess you could, but a couple of points to be aware of:

The Celestron dovetail has a curved inner profile to match the curvature of your telescope tube. You would therefore need cradle rings with a similar radius of curvature on the outside so they make good contact with the dovetail when bolted up.

Is the existing dovetail pre-drilled to take cradle rings at either end? If not that’s another job you will need to do.

I would recommend you buy a suitable dovetail and tube ring assembly to take the  diameter of your telescope tube, then you can buy a longer one which will give you the adjustment you are looking for.

Thank you!

3 hours ago, tomato said:

Yes, cradle rings would enable you to fit a longer dovetail. Alternatively there may be a longer screw in dovetail available, but it depends how much longer you need it to be, since the stability will be affected by the spacing of the fixing points to the telescope tube.

Could I attach cradle rings to the plate I already have and just slide the ota like that? Or is a longer plate neccesary?

I have an astromaster 102az. It has the plate screwed into the ota, but its too short. Would cradle rings work?

1 hour ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

No silly questions, so do not worry on that point.

When you refer to cradle rings are you talking about Tube Rings like this, they are sometimes called cradle rings but more often in UK Tube rings.

You would then mount these rings onto a dovetail, either a Losmandy or Vixen type depending on what your mount takes.

So unless I am misunderstanding your question (which is a good possibility) you do need them both as the tube rings hold the scope and the dovetail is what connects the scope ( and anything attached to it) to the mount.

Steve

Ah ok! Yes I was refering to those rings. Now it looks obvious 😅😅. Thank you!

Now a new question if you don't mind, are rings needed if you have a long enough dovetail plate? (on the scope, not the mount). In terms of balancing, my scope's plate is simply too short, cant shift it at all to try and balance it. Thinking of getting rings like that or just a longer plate and attach it to the scope. Which would be a better option? 

I've seen a few setups where both are used, isn't that a bit redundat? They seem like they serve the same purpose to me. Sorry if this is a silly question, quite new to this. Thanks in advance!

Yeah, I guess so

Can saltwater splash up a 5 story building from 30 meters away (without a storm)? I really want to avoid cleaning the lense if at all possible. 

4 minutes ago, powerlord said:

My immediate thoughts were that you were worried about people thinking you are perving on them. Clearly that is saying more about me. 🤣

I agree the phrasing could've been more adequate🤣🤣🤣

Ah ok, thanks! I'd be using it on a balcony far from sand🙂

I would like to take my scope with me when I travel but I've heard that the humidity and salt water particles in the air could damage it, is this true? If anything, it would be used about 20-30 meters from the shore. Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the kind comments, I should mention the actual viewing was done back in early August, it only occured to me to sketch it yesterday, I was able to pull a lot of detail from memory, the positions of the moons are innacurate though

Using a Celestron AstroMaster 102AZ, Celestron Zoom Eyepiece plus Barlow 2x, around 110x - 165x. Seeing was exeptional for a few moments giving me clear and stunning views which I never thought were possible with this little achro. Keep in mind this is a sketch, the planet was not quite as zoomed in as this, and it had the purple fringing around it visually, still I'm quite happy with the accuracy I achieved here. Used the sketchbook app on my phone.

1 hour ago, Alan64 said:

Get another box, naturally, of course.

Ah, yes indeed

52 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

For 5 Eur, I'd want my money back. I think you've been robbed 😜

87 cents doesn't have the same ring to it

8 hours ago, Lurcher said:

Hi, well done for trying your hand at sketching and producing your first sketches! The double cluster was a difficult target to begin with!

There's nothing better than the feeling of getting totally absorbed in the view in the eyepiece and trying to take in and reproduce all the details of what you're seeing.

Looking forward to seeing more. 

All the best.

Thank you!

7 hours ago, Alan64 said:

No problem, as you have eleven more in the box.

When they finish what will you do?😆

12 minutes ago, Kimboman said:

Who would have thought that a cardboard ring could produce such an interesting set of topics well done 

Its astonishing, this is what astronomy is all about🍩🍩

This thread is fantastic🤣🤣🤣🤣

Thank you for the kind comments🙂

1 minute ago, globular said:

My most enjoyable sessions usually occur when I’m sketching.  I tend to linger longer at the eyepiece and really take in the details.  If I’m not sketching it’s often a quick ‘wow’ and on to the next target.
Keep it up 

Thanks😁